During WW2, the American Army removed the
shelter shed and beacon that were located on top of Mount Gravatt in Brisbane and
installed a Sperry searchlight battery from April to June 1942. Every night fingers of light from the
tops of hills around Brisbane would light up the sky. The searchlights on Mount Gravatt were
initially manned by the 94th Coast
Artillery (AA) Regiment, 40th Anti-aircraft Brigade. They were part of the
outer ring of searchlights for the defense of Brisbane. There are no longer any visible signs
of the WW2 occupation of the top of Mount Gravatt. None that I could find!

Occasionally some practice rounds or
star shells would be fired from guns located elsewhere in the Brisbane area.

April 2002

The lookout on top of Mount
Gravatt looking towards the city

Some sources have suggested there may have been some anti-aircraft guns also
located on Mount Gravatt. There were never any anti-aircraft guns on Mount
Gravatt. There was only ever searchlights on top of Mount Gravatt.